Samir Rawas Sarayji's Reviews > Men Without Women

The first 4 stories were incredible! I felt Murakami was at the height of his powers with those, because while they had many of the Murakami tropes, they were still somewhat more 'masterful'... i.e. less gimmicky. Those stories were about human relationships, reminding me more of 'Norwegian Wood' yet still having the prominent magical realism running through. I had hoped the whole collection would be that way, but the rest of the stories were same old, where I felt the plot and the surrealism overtook the characterization, hence 4 stars.